Looking for a smarter mail merge technique

[dasadler]

I use my laser printer to print checks. I have a check file in Excel 2007 that I use for the source and I do a mail merge in Word2007. So far so good. However, when I created the merge document template I made it for a single check so when I do a merge and print checks, I must take my blank checks that are three to a page (see image - not my real checks) and separate them into single checks and feed them into the printer as if they were envelopes (I created my merge template based on the envelope template initially).

Sometimes I am printing nearly 100 checks and it is too slow a process to separate those checks then put them in numerical order for printing. It seems to me that I might be able to set up some sort of form template so I could print three checks per page. Problem is, I don't see how to set up a custom form and how to manage it if there is only one check to print rather than three... for example, if I am printing 29 checks... eight pages of three then a single check.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

checks.jpg

[HansV]

You can use mailmerge to labels, with a 3 labels per sheet setup. See Index Card, 3 per sheet for a freely downloadable template.

If the number of labels is not divisible by 3, the mail merge will handle that without problems.
If you want to start on the second or third label of a sheet, you can insert one or two blank records at the top of the data source.

[dasadler]

Thank you, I will give this a try.

[dasadler]

I don't think this will work... that site wants to install some .exe on my computer and I only need the template... not any crapware from vendors. I will keep looking, though... now I know what to look for... label template.

[HansV]

Sorry, I hadn't tried the download myself.

It's also possible to create your own label template in Word. When you start a mail merge to labels, Word prompts to select a label layout; the dialog has a New Label... button:

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